Originally posted by feldon23 Diplexing is an imperfect science and can drown out some or all of the DirecTV signals.

Huh? Complimentary High Pass/Low pass Filters with constant impedance on the common port are hardly an imperfect science -- filter synthesis is quite exact. Since UHF TV ends at 806MHz (750MHz in practice) and the Satellite Downconverter output begins at 950MHz there is no reason why a diplexer should affect Satellite reception, if well designed and built.

It is true that lower pole count diplexers can allow noise and harmonics to bother the lower Satellite transponders in some cases, however one can go to trunk-grade diplexers (rather than drop-grade) with higher pole count, or double-lowpass the TV signal by sending it thru a diplexer with the Satellite port terminated before sending to the actual diplexer.

There are a lot of crappy diplexers and 5x8 multiswitches out there. Diplexing is not always the answer. I am speaking from the testimonies of many people on the DirecTV/TiVo forum who have had to run a separate OTA line to get all their DirecTV channels to work.

I don't make the news, I just report it.

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Originally posted by feldon23 There are a lot of crappy diplexers and 5x8 multiswitches out there. Diplexing is not always the answer. I am speaking from the testimonies of many people on the DirecTV/TiVo forum who have had to run a separate OTA line to get all their DirecTV channels to work.

I don't make the news, I just report it.

Then you should be reporting the brand names and model numbers of the diplexers prone to doing crappy things rather than passing along cryptic notes about diplexers not working well -- because diplexers do work well when everything's in spec.

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Re: I had the same concern about NTSC, but that's why I am keeping my ReplayTV

I have had both for over 3 years, I had Replay first, and I thought I still liked that interface for a good 6 months or longer after I had both. Not anymore. Tivo all the way.

But in any case, it isn't like you have a choice. You seriously think the UI is going to be any real concern at all when you have the ability to record HD now, and your ReplayTV HD is probably going to die anytime anyway?

(I have 3 dead Quantum drives on my shelf. I've never had any other HD die at home. One of those was the original ReplayTV drive).

Quote:

Originally posted by chriswood Your post was just the one that I have been looking for... someone who has "Replay" and "Tivo" experience.

I have pre-ordered the HD-250. It will be the first time that I have ever seen the Tivo user interface. I have used the RePlay ShowStopper for about 3 years.

I (and my wife) LOVE the Replay user interface. It's incredibly fast "grid" architecture, and vast array of other great features, are superb.

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MattRelax, its only TV. . .then what am I doing wasting time on a forum like this and spending hundreds of dollars on glorified VCR's?

1) The OS is still Linux
2) The version of the Tivo software is still pretty much the same I think (or it's been reported not to have any 4.x features like folders)
3) The hardware is supposed to be pretty much the same
4) The box looks pretty much the same

Then I conclude that, at worst, it's like the DTivo2, and we need to buy a replacement IDE cable, a power splitter, and some form of HDD mount. And a HDD of course.

The main question is whether the current add-a-drive methods (a.k.a. BlessTivo, etc.) will work. And I'd guess they will since I think those are more Linux operations than Tivo software operations. I wonder about the >134GB limit (or whatever it was)?

Originally posted by AbMagFab Just speculating here (wth), but given that:

1) The OS is still Linux
2) The version of the Tivo software is still pretty much the same I think (or it's been reported not to have any 4.x features like folders)
3) The hardware is supposed to be pretty much the same
4) The box looks pretty much the same

Then I conclude that, at worst, it's like the DTivo2, and we need to buy a replacement IDE cable, a power splitter, and some form of HDD mount. And a HDD of course.

The main question is whether the current add-a-drive methods (a.k.a. BlessTivo, etc.) will work. And I'd guess they will since I think those are more Linux operations than Tivo software operations. I wonder about the >134GB limit (or whatever it was)?

The other consideration might be heat. With 2 250 GB HDD I assume it will get quite warm inside so you might need a better fan or some other way to cool the machine. I think weaknees will probably be checking ASAP to see if it is upgradeable and if so providing one way to do it.

We are still waiting for ours to arrive. Given the 250GB drive that will be in it, it seems LBA48 support will be native as it is in the Pioneer DVD burning units.

Stay tuned.

FYI - we will probably scramble to get things tested and working as soon as our units arrive, however we are not going to immediately release an upgrade product for this unit until we are certain it is supportable and performs as expected.

Stay tuned,
Lou

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Feldon, nice post. Very informative. A few questions for you, and let me preface my questions with a personal disclaimer that I am new to this, so I'm sure my questions are rather uninformed. But here goes...

I have an 18x20 dish w/dual LNBs w/2 DirecTV/TiVo receivers and 1 plain DirecTV receiver. I understand that for HD I need the Sat C kit. Here's where I'm confused: With the Sat C kit, there will now be 5 cables coming from the antenna. The built in 4x4 multiswitch can't handle the 5th input. Your diagram with a cascading 4x8 multiswitch, which I'd like to install, shows 5 inputs going from the antenna into the 4x4 multiswitch. What am I missing?

In addition to adding the Sat C, I'd like to add an antenna for off air HD programming. I understand from antennaweb.org that I can get away with a small multidirectional antenna. Is there a way to install this at/near the dish and connect the antenna to the cascading multiswitches? If so, is this a 6th input to the multiswitch? Also, any recommendations for a small multidirectional OA antenna?

The SatC kit includes a combiner that will be placed in line with one of the outputs of the 119&deg; LNB. So only 4 inputs go to the multiswitch from LNB's.

A 5xN multiswitch provides for connection of an over-the-air antenna on the 5th input, which then is diplexed into all N outputs of the multiswitch. At the receiver(s) needing the antenna, you use a diplexer to split the satellite and over-the-air antenna signals out so they can go to their respective inputs on the receiver.

Avoid Terk antenna's; except in the most limited circumstances, they're junk. If you need something compact and you're within 20-30 miles of all your TV stations transmitters, look at an antenna like the Winegard SS-1000 Square Shooter: http://www.warrenelectronics.com/Ant...areshooter.htm

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I'll add a SatC kit and Winegard SS-1000 OA antenna; scrap the 4x4 MS that came with my dish; feed the satellite lines and the OA antenna into a Terk BMS-58; and then use a diplexer at whatever location I want to extract the OA signal to feed into an HD tuner (e.g., Hughes DVR-HD250).

Is that all right? Any challenge aligning the SatC? And diplexer you'd recommend?

Originally posted by stugrief Thanks, Doug. I think I'm almost there...

I'll add a SatC kit and Winegard SS-1000 OA antenna; scrap the 4x4 MS that came with my dish; feed the satellite lines and the OA antenna into a Terk BMS-58; and then use a diplexer at whatever location I want to extract the OA signal to feed into an HD tuner (e.g., Hughes DVR-HD250).

Is that all right? Any challenge aligning the SatC? And diplexer you'd recommend?

If you're already getting signals fine from 101&deg; and 119&deg;, the SatC kit is plug-and-play; you'll be aligned.

No particular recommendations on diplexers; there are different levels of quality, but I don't think there's a really major spread between them; just get one from wherever you get the multiswitch.

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Originally posted by GreyGhost00 First of all, great FAQ and very helpful.

I was hoping to clarify what remote the HD Tivo will ship with. Will it be the standard peanut remote, or will it have any sort of universal capabilities.

The HD Tivo will be replacing the Samsung TS-160 in my HT setup, and I currently use that remote to control the Receiver, TV and Pioneer amp.

If there's no capability to control the Pioneer, I'll have to go with a universal solution such as the Harmony.

Ease of use for the wife is a big factor

Can't tell you from experience here, however considering the packaging, and what's been going on with all the different units out there, its likely to be a peanut remote and likely to respond to the same codes as your existing peanut remote.

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